Distributed Data Applications with ASP.NET, 2/e

ASP.NET is a huge advance from previous incarnations of ASP, with one of its goals being pure HTML output that achieves maximum cross-browser compatibility. The server-side event architecture tends to engender this approach, but amid the first flush of excitement it’s often forgotten that there’s still a place for rich clients and handling data in a multitude of places. Distributed data-driven applications aren’t new, but the range of possibilities and ease of development have both increased with the introduction of .NET.

This book approaches data management and data applications from several different points of view:

• Understanding the new .NET data management philosophy for both relational and XML data
• Grasping the different techniques that it encompasses and how they relate to real-world requirements
• Exploring the application architecture and design implications of the .NET data management classes
• Designing distributed data-driven ASP.NET applications that benefit from the new data management techniques
• Examining the rich-client philosophy and how .NET can be used to bring this about
• Demonstrating how easy it is to take advantage of several different types of client devices, providing the best user experience possible for each one

Many books describe the basic techniques for working with data in ASP.NET. However, this book goes not just a step further, but in fact takes you on a complete journey by exploring how to provide the user with the best possible client-side experience when working with data. It also focuses on the server-side design and development process, such as using the n-tier architecture in your applications, and implementing specific techniques, such as correctly managing updates to a data store by multiple concurrent users.

Table of contents:

Chapter 1: The Distributed Application
Chapter 2: Components and Data Access
Chapter 3: Accessing XML Documents
Chapter 4: The Application Plumbing
Chapter 5: Working with Down-Level Clients
Chapter 6: Working with Rich Clients
Chapter 7: Remoting to .NET Clients
Chapter 8: Updating Data in Down-Level Clients
Chapter 9: Updating Remote Cached Data
Chapter 10: Components for Updating Data
Chapter 11: Rich Client Update Applications
Chapter 12: Reconciling Update Errors
Chapter 13: Updating Data from Remote .NET Applications